Malaysia with Kids

by Margaret
(Michigan)

This was my family's first trip to Malaysia. We spent 5 days in Penang and we stayed at the Holiday Inn. The hotel was great-we stayed in the tower across the street from the beach. In the mornings we explored Penang and in the afternoons we hung out at the pool. The kids club at the hotel was very basic-better for younger children. We found a great driver outside the hotel (His name was James Bond..lol) who took us everywhere.

We went to the botanical gardens and saw lots of pretty flowers and a few monkeys. We stopped to buy some fruit and then went to a nearby park where there were about 100 monkeys. The kids loved seeing them and feeding them. After that we headed up to Kek Sok Lee temple. This was lots of fun. The kids fed the koi fish, found the statue of their Chinese Zodiac animal and saw lots of turtles.

We went to the butterfly gardens one day and saw the beautiful butterflies. My youngest daughter was not impressed when one landed on her and screamed at the top of her lungs! There was also insects and a pool of scorpions. We went to snake temple which was a highlight for the kids. In behind the temple is an area with tons of snakes. You can watch the snakes being fed. There are also lizards that you can hold. The staff are really friendly. My childrens favorite part was the two monkies they have.

They are tied up but will jump on you and try and grab anything they can from you. Everyone now wants a pet monkey (I know, I know it's not right but they are so darn cute!) We took the tram up Penang Hill. The tram was a bit crowded but the kids had fun spotting the lizards and monkeys on the side. At the top we wandered around and checked out the view. We went to the bird park and saw lots of colorful birds (cages are a bit small) and did a bit of shopping. We had a cup of corn from the vendor-delicious!

We went to Laketown Bukit Merah resort for the day. This was another hit with the kids. We started by taking the ferry to Orangutan island. First you watch an educational video and then you enter the cage and watch them play. There is also a nursery where you can see the adorable babies. We then went to the zoo and bought food to feed the animals. The monkeys were again a big hit with the kids.

After that we did the skybike where you pedal around a track through the trees. We ate lunch (fast food) which was pretty gross! After that we headed to the water park. There is a big bouncy half sphere that the kids loved jumping on, a lazy river, slides and more. We had a great day exploring this park.

In the evenings we had dinner at the hawker stalls. My kids loved the food! Satay, spring rolls, butter chicken and naan bread. We had soursop shakes every night-these are delicious. After we shopped at the night market and got sunglasses, a few shirts and some souvenirs. The kids were dying to go for a ride on the trishaws so we went for a short ride up and down the street. The poor driver managed to pull me and the kids altogether.

Penang was a great introduction to Malaysia. Malaysia is one of my top destinations to bring kids-there is lots to see and do. On this trip we started in Thailand and also went to Bali(my favorite spot in the world so far!) and Cambodia. We flew Air Asia most of the way. This is my favorite airline-it's a cheap, reliable, no frills airline and has extensive routes throughout Asia. As a single mom traveling alone with 3 kids I felt very safe everywhere we went.